Astrology, along with its sister astronomy, is one of the oldest arts
known to humanity. Virtually every culture known has had some form of
astrology, allowing its practitioners to see how the energies of the stars
affect the Earth below. From Ptolemy’s ethno-astrology to the numerous
practices of the Hermetic Renaissance to today’s Jungian inspired
readings, astrology in its predictive form is still practiced today.

Yet this is not the only astrology at large today and there has always
been more to astrology than the predictive arts. Whether it is evoking
a spirit on the day of Saturn and the hours of Mercury, scrying astrological
sigils to encounter the metaphysical realms connected to them or employing
Henry Cornelius Agrippa’s complex formulae for creating celestial
talismans astrology has provided the occultist of every day a means for
knowing when now is the correct NOW.

The articles in this issue of the Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition
explore a number of different uses of astrology. Alex Sumner’s Against
Sidereal Astrology examines both tropical and sidereal astrology
and not only extols the advantages of traditional Western astrology but
also explores what he has dubbed “post-Modern astrology”.
Our second offering considers a grimoire traditionally associated with
Dr. John Dee and its relation to Hermetic Astrology. This is followed
by the first-ever English translation of the Tuba Veneris by
Teresa Burns and Nancy Turner.

Of course, these articles only scratch the surface of how astrology has
been employed across the ages. It is our sincerest hope, however, that
they spark an interest, or a renewed interest, in the subject of our readers
to explore again this ancient art and science.